An Abraham Lincoln researcher attempted to literally rewrite history when he changed a date on a presidential pardon from April 14, 1864, to April 14, 1865.
For those of you who didn’t do too well in U.S. History, the one-digit change upgrades the document’s importance from typical pardon to one of the final papers Lincoln signed on the day of his death. The temptation was too much for a novice historian.
Although we frown upon tampering with historical documents and pieces of art, we can see the allure of becoming part of the narrative people spend their lives retelling.
Finding a forgotten piece to a puzzle makes an exciting topic for daydream, especially when it concerns one of our most conflicted, beloved and researched presidents.
Nerdy musings are one thing, but reality is another.
The ramifications of making a change to a primary source of history can never be known, but the conflict between the joy of finding something first and revealing it accurately to others makes us wonder how many times changes have been made in order to stroke an ego or feel the rush of discovery.
The problem boils down to our human nature.
When people tell us not to touch something, we’re tempted to do just that the moment the words leave their lips.
We’d love to see our names passed down for generations, but for now, we are better off scribbling in the margins of a history textbook.
